Brilliant Business Ideas with Low Investment!

A lot of youngsters are already tired of going for a 9-5 job and are looking for options elsewhere. And, the older generation who no longer want to simply sit at home, watching television, are also searching for better ways to engage themselves in something constructive. However, to start a business from scratch, a huge sum of initial capital is imperative. This is a problem in case of both our youngster and the old person. I myself have been wondering of how I could start my own venture but without investing a lot. So on doing some quality research, I came up with the following ideas that don't require too much of effort on the monetary front.

Sow the seeds of your own small business!

1. Consultancy: 
I am sure this is the first thing that crossed your mind when you thought about starting something on your own. But a lot of people get stuck at just the thought and often don't know how to move forward with this idea. All you need to do is first identify your domain of expertise in which you will be offering your consultation. Next is to tap all the contacts that you have made in life so far. You never know who would offer you a helping hand. So clear out all your inhibitions and get into business. Initiate a casual and friendly proposal to those who belong to your connection of friends and relatives. For those who belong to your professional connection, opt for a more formal approach wherein you mention details like costing, benefits, needs and other advantages of hiring you as their consultant. Follow-up regularly and incessantly. Remember, you need their business more than they need you. You could offer your services in the financial sector, matrimonial services, digital marketing or even website hygiene.

2. Content Writing:
If you are truly passionate about writing and can offer your services as an ace content writer, then don't even think about anything else. Content is the key to success these days. Be an important contributor to that success.

3. Mobile Food Court:
Do you love food and own a car of your own? Then you need nothing much but a small induction gas stove that you can use to cook yummy dishes and set up a mini-restaurant in your car itself. Give yourself a fancy name, create social handles that have the potential to go viral and there you are - the perfect recipe of Success!

4. Customized Gift Store:
Birthdays and Anniversaries can and will never go extinct. The demand of these days being celebrated will only increase over the coming years and never get depleted. If you think you have the skills to create something really interesting and creative that could serve as a personalized gift to someone special, then start your own store that can run from your humble abode itself.

5. Blogging:
Have you ever wondered if blogging about your favorite hobby could fetch you any income? Oh yes, it can! You could blog about traveling, cooking, eating, dancing, dressing up or even shopping and earn money for writing well. Explore more here.

6. App Creation:
Are you crazy about mobiles and have a kick-ass concept to create a mobile application? Then go ahead and just employ a freelancer to build your app based on your idea and design. Register the app and start seeing your bank balance grow!

7. Wholesale Reselling:
Go to a local market where you can purchase items in bulk at reasonable rates and resell this in retail market with a dash of creativity from your end. Go on and pick any item of your choice. It could be dresses, jewelry or accessories like bags and shoes. Give it an innovative touch like exquisite designs, pairing it with something else interesting that only you could offer and there you go!

8. Selling Your Art-form:
Are you a great artist? A graceful dancer? Or a soulful singer? Whoever you are, simply start your own channel on YouTube or create your own site and teach your art-form to the masses who are just as passionate as you are. Start an online tutorial service for a subscription fee and make money for each course that you chalk out. If you are not sure about doing it yourself, you have popular websites where you can get listed and become famous!

Now that you have a fair idea about all the avenues out there in the market, take your pick and start your venture! Here's wishing you all the luck and success :)

Trending tips to design an awesome website!

I am sure all of us have done this at least once. You hear about some new product and immediately check on your phones for the website of the company that sells the product. If its nice and appealing, you may choose to buy the product. If the website doesn't entice you, I am sure you wouldn't prefer to stay on it even for a minute and decide that the product is not great (while in reality, it may be an amazing product). It is imperative for any company, small or big, to have a really alluring and self-explanatory website. So what are the key elements to creating a great website? Ask the following questions and see if you are able to answer each one with utmost clarity and precision.

1. Is there clarity in the purpose of your website?
Who are you? What do you do? What can your audience find on your site? Do you cater to specific need of the society? All of these questions must be clearly answered in your website with simple yet powerful words that highlight your product/service.

2. Does your website strike the correct chord with your target audience?
Stick to simple and effective communication in the language that they prefer. Give them what they exactly need in their style.

3. Is your site capable enough to create a compelling need for your audience to stay longer on it?
Your website must have a good, wait..great value proposition that forces your customers to keep reading through the various elements of your site. Don't let your audience move away from your domain easily.

4. Is your site simple, creative and user-friendly?
Always follow the golden rule of KISS - Keep It Simple Silly. Simplicity is often more appealing than complexity. Add creative and effective elements to your website that navigates the user in a very easy and seamless manner. Avoid broken links, unpleasant color schemes and too many unnecessary links. Align the design with the tone of your business and taste of your audience.

5. Are there enough Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons on each page of your site?
This does not mean that you load each page with CTA buttons, but have apt and effective ones that let your users find what they want at the correct time and place. Incorporate intelligent elements in your design that capture intricacies of user behavior and work favorably for you.

6. Is your website optimized for multi-device usability?
Ensure that your website works equally well across all devices including desktop, tablet and mobile. Additionally, make sure that you test your site on multiple browsers and fix any kind of bugs that you may notice.

7. Is the content on your site static or dynamic?
Keep dynamic content that has the potential to refresh your site frequently. This enables search engine crawlers to automatically find you and list you in their result pages.

8. How long does it take for your site to load on any device?
Page speed is an important aspect that not may developers pay heed to. Your site should load quickly so that viewers don't migrate away from your site due to extended waiting period. Avoid too many heavy components, and if at all those components are necessary, optimize and compress them for optimum user experience.

9. Are you aware of the F-Layout?
User behavior states that a normal human being always reads from left to right and top to bottom. Use this to your advantage and work towards placing your best elements in correct positions that catch your users' attention.

So, have you been able to answer all of the above questions? Go ahead and tick them all off the list!

Website design is an integral part of your business and never should you neglect this aspect. All the best in designing the best website for your business. In case you need to hire a really good website developer, you could look for great options here.

Do you have what it takes to be an Enterprising Entrepreneur?

A successful entrepreneur possesses certain key qualities that separate him from the common man. Skills can be attained with practice, however, there are some attributes that are in-built and developed in an individual over the years. Do you think you have those qualities in you? Take a look at the personality traits of a startup superhero in this infographic.

So, what are you waiting for? Start here to get more visibility and also find your target audience! Share your traits in the comments section below. 

Inspiring Stories of Indian Entrepreneurs!

Indian entrepreneurs are really very inspiring and some of their heroic stories are untold. Being enthused by such success stories, I did a bit of research on various websites and magazines to figure out how one could make it big with simple yet powerful ideas. Based on this little research, following are a few really amazing stories that encourage you to go that extra mile with a humble idea and reach the pinnacle.

Sulekha.com : This is a really inspiring story that I came across when I was reading a magazine in the plane. Mr.Satya Prabhakar and his wife went to America through his work and slowly settled there. However, back then, they did not have any relatives or friends who could help them with small services like a good Indian cook to help them out, a decent Indian salon for their beauty essentials, etc. They decided to start noting down all the help they figured out somehow and developed a blog to spread the word across to their neighbors and fellow Indians in their community. Now, he is the owner of a really big company called Sulekha.com, that has its wings spread not only in India, but in USA, UK and Middle East. What started as a blog is now a big business. Sheer brilliance and dedication. Something this simple really inspires me a lot. Every successful startup caters to some or the other need of the society and Sulekha happens to be the biggest example of that!

Jayaashree Industries: Arunachalam Muruganantham, India’s “Tampon King.” He acquired this title by figuring out how to locally produce low-cost sanitary napkins that have the dual benefit of not only providing women with an affordable, hygienic management method for that time of the month, but also providing employment to many women.

Sandeepha Restaurant: Starting from merely 50 paisa per day, Mrs. Patricia Narayan now earns INR 2 lakh a day. She started her career 31 years ago as an entrepreneur, selling eateries from a mobile cart on the Marina beach a midst all odds. Today, she has overcome the hurdles and owns a chain of restaurants.

ID Idly Dosa batter: Musthafa P.C, a school dropout who went on to study at IIMB, quit his software job to start an enterprise that sold idly-dosa batter. His is a success story that has trickled down to his 600 –odd rural employees too.